


Open Your Eyes

by bellestar



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Ben is kind of a idiot, But they are idiots in love with each other, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Miscommunication, Mutual Pining, Prompt Fic, Rey is kind of an idiot too, Reylo - Freeform, Reylo Prompt, They've got to get past the friendzone, reylo is endgame, you'll want to shake Ben saying "just tell her already!"
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:46:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23674837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellestar/pseuds/bellestar
Summary: Rey is his friend.  Rey is just a friend.  Rey is a good friend, the best kind of friend to have.  If he repeats that in his mind enough, maybe it’ll become true.Except it hasn’t been true the entire time that Ben Solo has known Rey Johnson.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Rose Tico, Kylo Ren/Rey, Poe Dameron/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 308
Kudos: 521
Collections: Ijustfellintothissendhelp, Reylo Prompt Fills (@reylo_prompts)





	1. Breakfast at Hal's

**Author's Note:**

> From [@Reylo Prompts](https://twitter.com/reylo_prompts):  
> "Ben and Rey are friends who have feelings for each other but they don’t want to ruin their friendship so they always set each other up on dates, but what happens when one of them gets into a serious relationship?"

It’s not supposed to be this way.

Everything around him becomes dull. He can’t smell breakfast on the plates in front of them. The sip of coffee that lingers on his tongue is only a memory. Conversations of the other diners around them become garbled like he’s underwater. He can only hear the sound of his thumping heartbeat in his ears; his eyes are lost in her bright, hazel ones. 

She’s crashed into him like a wave with a few simple words that have pulled him completely under. Except he’s unable to wave his arms in the air to signal for help. Drawing too much attention would mean the truth will come out, so he’ll slowly drown in this ocean instead.

There are words coming from her mouth, but it’s like she’s speaking in a foreign language. Her hands move about wildly like they do when she’s talking excitedly about something. An unmistakable giggle that normally would lift a smile to his lips feels like a hand that holds his head deeper underwater.

He reminds himself to fight for air so he can keep up appearances. This isn’t any different from what he’s been doing for the past three years. He’s gotten good at pretending not to be bothered anytime she mentions how well a past date has gone. Especially when he’s been the one to suggest that she go on these dates in the first place.

She is one of his closest friends. _Friend_ , he chants in his mind. She is a friend. She is just a friend. A good friend. A best friend. She’s the kind of friend who will drop by your apartment to drop off soup when you’re feeling sick. The type of friend who you want to call first with good news. Her smile can light up the entire room, and it’s fitting that her name is Rey. Being with her, being her friend, is like a constant source of warmth and sunlight.

Rey is his friend. Rey is just a friend. Rey is a good friend, the best kind of friend to have.

If he repeats that in his mind enough, maybe it’ll become true.

Except it hasn’t been true the entire time that Ben Solo has known Rey Johnson. They have been friends for three years, two months and 23 days. He’s been in love with her for three years, two months, and 22 days.

**

They had met just before they graduated from Coruscant University. He was an English major with a concentration in composition and literature. She was majoring in engineering, and their classes were on opposite sides of the campus. Rey worked weekends out of an auto body shop a few blocks away from campus. Ben spent his weekends in the library and wrote for the English department’s journal publication. 

Their paths met in the middle of a wild frat house party a week before graduation.

His friend, Armitage Hux, dragged him there under the guise that Ben hadn’t lived an entire day in his life, and he needed to get wasted at least once. That wasn’t entirely the case; Ben had been drunk before, but never at a house party in front of complete strangers. He figured that Hux couldn’t be wrong about blowing off some steam. Classes were over, exams had been turned in, and he was weeks away from beginning his work at a publishing company in town. Ben was living life…just very carefully and methodically.

Except Hux ditched him early in the night. Hux was at that party to meet up with Rey’s friend, Rose Tico, who also brought Rey there under false pretenses. 

Rey had shown up at Rose’s sorority house with tools in hand to work on Rose’s car. Rose, instead, shoved a dress into Rey’s hands and told her they were going to the party next door. Her car was actually working fine. Like Hux, Rose had told Rey that she needed to get out and mingle a little. How else would she meet a guy? She wanted Rey to also meet Hux, who she had been secretly seeing for a couple of weeks. What better way to meet your friend’s secret boyfriend than in a crowded room filled with drunken co-eds?

Rey had protested loudly, but Rose managed to get her into the yellow dress that flared at the hips and use a curling iron to give Rey’s hair some life. Working at the shop and in her classes required her to wear her hair up, usually in three small buns to keep her hair out of her face. The dress and the hairstyle were a different but pleasing look. Rey thought she could put up with it for at least a night to make Rose happy.

And so it was there, in the front lawn of a frat house, that Ben first laid eyes on Rey. It wasn’t the dress or her chestnut brown hair that caught his attention.

He was well into his second cup of beer, and whatever buzz from the alcohol was doing to his senses didn’t compare to what her smile was doing. 

She was standing alone, and unlike everyone else who had their phones glued to their hands, she was taking in the scene uninterrupted, almost like she was taking in a piece of art. If a frat house party full of drunk, stumbling college students could be considered art.

Ben wasn’t sure who walked up to who first, but they stood side by side, awkwardly holding red Solo cups. 

“Who do you think is winning?” she asked. Rey motioned to the game of beer pong taking place just feet away. It was a mixture of cheerleaders and members of the track team battling one another. Neither team seemed to be doing very well…. or maybe they were doing well, given the number of sips that were being taken from their cups.

“I think we’re the ones winning,” Ben replied. That comment made Rey tilt her head up at him, giving him the first opportunity to get lost in her warm, hazel eyes.

“Yeah? How do you figure that?”

“Well, we are going to be the only ones able to function tomorrow morning, and really be able to enjoy breakfast at Hal’s Diner.” 

“Are you suggesting that you and I are going to have breakfast at Hal’s Diner tomorrow morning?” She raised an eyebrow at him, the rim of the cup covering the smirk on her face. Embarrassment crept up through his neck and to his cheeks. There was something reckless about this conversation already; Ben was never this forward, especially to girls.

Ben knows he’s not exactly a bad looking guy. He’s very tall and broad, making him easy to pick out in a crowd. He keeps his hair long, mostly to hide his ears. There’s been occasions in class when he knows that a girl has flirted with him, but it’s never gone anywhere. That’s never really bothered him.

“Um, yeah. Sure. Why not?”

“Is it a date?” she asked, and he froze. He hadn’t expected to hear that response. For the first time, Ben didn’t have a plan, but he chose the safest option.

“Um. No,” Ben answered lamely. “Friendly. Friendly breakfast over loaded hashbrowns.”

When she finished her sip of beer, Rey offered her hand out to his. “Friendly breakfast it is. I’m Rey.” He shook her hand gently.

“I’m Ben.”

“Ben,” she repeated his name like she was trying it out for the first time. “Okay. I’ll see you at Hal’s tomorrow morning at 8am.”

He chuckled, shocked that she agreed and at the suggested meeting time. “Wait, 8am on a Sunday?”

“Well, you just suggested that we’re going to be the only ones functioning enough to really enjoy breakfast,” she said with a wink as she backed away. “And I like to enjoy my chocolate chip pancakes early. So, don’t drink too much of whatever is in that cup.”

He nodded his head. “Okay, I’ll see you in the morning.”

Rey held up her cup at him in a mock toast before ceremoniously pouring out the rest of the beer in the grass. “You said we’re going to be functioning tomorrow morning!” She shrugged before she disappeared into the crowd of co-eds.

Ben was sure that this was not what Hux had in mind for him when he forced him to come out, but when Ben saw Rey waiting for him n a booth at Hal’s Diner the next morning, he was very thankful to have taken his friend’s advice.

They spent hours talking about everything and nothing at all. It was over that “friendly” breakfast that he fell in love with Rey.

**

They have been coming to Hal’s Diner at 8am on Sundays ever since. This is their tradition; she orders chocolate chip pancakes with extra whipped cream and a large glass of milk. He orders whatever the special is, which is usually eggs (scrambled), with sausage, loaded hashbrowns and a cup of coffee. These breakfasts are meant for them to catch the other one up on the week’s events.

Ben loves spending every Sunday morning with her. They see each other during the week, too, when their work schedules allow. He’s worked his way up as an editor at Skywalker Publishing, his uncle’s firm. She works at the university in the engineering program. They get together with Hux and Rose, who got married last year. Rey is invited over to his family’s dinners at the holidays since she has no birth family. It sometimes feels like Rey has always been a part of his life despite only knowing each other for just over three years.

But during these past three years, he’s fallen hopelessly in love with her. There’s been moments, when they’re sitting on her couch and watching a movie that he’s wanted to wrap his arm around her back instead of the back of the couch. He thought about kissing her last Christmas when his mother, rather obviously, hung mistletoe and had both of them standing directly under it. Ben had leaned in and kissed her cheek instead. He’s kissed her cheek for the past three New Year’s Eves when the ball has dropped at midnight, too.

As bold as he was the night that he invited her to breakfast at Hal’s, Ben has never worked up the courage to do anything about his feelings for her. His coping mechanism has been a mixture of burying himself into work and setting her up on dates.

Hux told him that was fucked up when he mentioned it a year ago. It is fucked up to set up your best friend, the one you’re in love with, on dates with other guys. Ben never actually expected any of these dates to work out. There’s been a couple of guys at his work who have taken Rey out, but in both cases, the spark just wasn’t there for her. Ben hated how relieved he felt when she told him that she didn’t think there would be a second or third date with those guys.

He had set her up with Poe, another guy at work, a few months ago. Poe was new to the area and looking to get to know people. Ben took it upon himself to invite Poe out with him to meet Hux, Rose and Rey the next time they went out for drinks. Poe is a friendly guy, has a good sense of humor. When he suggested to Rey that evening to sit beside Poe, she never questioned it. 

He didn’t expect they would spend the entire evening talking to just each other. Poe had offered to walk Rey to her car after drinks, and Ben had to hold himself back from charging at Poe for it.

But it wouldn’t end well. Rey has never had good luck on her dates or meeting other people. She had told Ben once, after a particularly hard break up, that she at least always had him by her side. That he was such a good friend, and how thankful she was that nothing could ruin it.

She had used the word ‘friend’, and it stung more than he wanted it to. But being a friend is safe and secure. Being Rey’s friend means that she will always be in his life, so why risk losing it? As much as he wonders about her at night, he can’t stand the thought of not being able to see her or have breakfast with her at Hal’s Diner on Sundays.

So going out with Poe Dameron shouldn’t have been a big deal. It wasn’t going to work out anyway. Just like the dates that Rey had been setting Ben up on lately weren’t ending as storybook romances, either.

It’s not supposed to be this way as Rey tells him over her chocolate chip pancakes with extra whipped cream that she’s considering moving in with Poe Dameron.

Her voice is finally clear as he feels that he’s swimming back to shore. Ben is dragging himself across the sand, gasping for air. Her bright sunshine is beating down on him, and what is usually warm and comforting being around Rey is suddenly suffocating him. He reaches for the glass of cold water, drinking it down in large gulps.

“Ben?” Rey looks at him with concern. “Are you okay?”

“Uh, yeah, fine. Just fine,” he coughs and tries to take interest in his breakfast in front of him. “I’m sorry, you were saying?”

Rey leans back against the booth. “I thought maybe you were a million miles away from me. I was talking about how I think Poe is going to ask me to move in with him.”

He tells him himself to nod and keeps looking down at the plate of eggs, sausage and hashbrowns. His appetite is completely gone.

“Wow…. that sounds serious,” Ben says finally. Rey doesn’t pick up that he can’t bring himself to look at her. She’s too busy smiling and digging into her pancakes.

“Well, I’m over there every night anyway,” she explains. Ben tries not to think about that.

“And things are going really well,” she continues, sounding astonished that this is something that is working out for her. “I think it’s a good step to take, you know? Plus, I don’t know, it’ll save some money since I’m hardly in my apartment anymore.”

“But you love your apartment,” Ben points out to her. He remembers how they spent weeks looking at apartments near the university but not in areas heavily populated by students. Realtors and landlords kept mistaking them for a couple looking for their first place together.

“I do! I really do. Maybe I should sub-let it? In case things do go south with Poe?” She’s so deeply into her pancakes that she doesn’t even see how much this conversation is killing Ben inside.

“Has Poe asked you to move in?” he forces himself to ask. Because that’s what friends do.

Rey takes a drink of milk, her tongue swiping at the leftover mustache it leaves behind on her upper lip. “We just have started talking about the future. He tells me that the publishing company is growing, and that’s exciting.” 

That’s true; Skywalker Publishing is doing very well, and Poe is an excellent editor. He doesn’t work too often with Ben, but Luke has mentioned to Ben that Poe has made himself a valuable member of the team.

“And I’m going to be up for tenure and want to stay at Coruscant so it feels right. It feels right to start settling down.”

“Settling down,” he parrots, finally forcing himself to take a bite of the loaded hashbrowns. The carb-filled goodness does nothing to settle the pain in his stomach that he realizes is not from hunger.

“It’s just me talking out loud. I mean, maybe we won’t actually move in together right now. It just feels…good, I guess.”

She looks up at him with a small smile on her face. There he can see that she truly sounds happy when she says that her relationship with Poe feels good. It’s selfish to not want Rey to be happy with anyone else but him. After all, she’s not his lover. Rey is his friend. Rey is just a friend. Rey is a good friend, the best kind of friend to have.

A beautiful, kind and wonderful friend to have. Friends want each other to be happy.

“That’s…. that’s good, Rey. I’m happy for you,” Ben manages, but he doesn’t mean it at all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, let's see where we go with this!
> 
> Special love and thank you to [Sophia_Ravencrest](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sophia_Ravencrest/pseuds/Sophia_Ravencrest), who is an amazing beta and cheerleader!
> 
> I'm also over at [twitter](https://twitter.com/bellestarreylo). Come say hi to me!


	2. Poe's News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poe drops some news on Ben that is sure to affect his feelings about Rey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the response to this story! Your comments, kudos and love mean the world to me. This is a slightly shorter chapter but it'll pick up in the next one.

It’s a couple of weeks after that Sunday breakfast that left Ben sulking for days. Much to Ben’s relief, Rey hasn’t brought anything back up about moving in with Poe. They’ve carried on their normal day-to-day texts and Sunday breakfast.

But Poe drops a piece of information that makes Ben realize that “normal day-to-day” with Rey is about to change.

It comes with a knock on his office door in the middle of an afternoon of manuscript editing. 

“Hey Benny, you got a minute?”

Ben hasn’t told Poe that he really doesn’t like that nickname, but his curiosity for Poe’s unexpected visit lets it slide. Ben motions for him to come in, and Poe shuts the door behind him.

“What’s going on?” Ben asks as he puts the manuscript and his editing tools to the side. He quickly notices how Poe bounces his leg as he sits on the edge of one of the chairs in front of Ben’s desk. 

“Look, I hope that this can be kept between you and me for now, but I’ve gotten an offer with a publishing company in New York City.” Poe reveals it one hurried breath, and Ben’s eyes widen.

“Wait, did you just say a job in New York?”

Poe nods his head excitedly. “I wasn’t looking to leave here, I swear!” he says as he puts his hands up defensively. “Seriously, I love working here at Skywalker. Luke has been a great mentor, and you’ve been super cool about introducing me to friends and to Rey…”

Ben stiffens in his chair as he watches the man in front of him begin to look down at his hands. Luke _will_ be pissed to lose an employee who has been on for less than a year, but hearing Rey’s name sends a chill down his spine.

“But, it’s a great offer. They came to me since I had applied there once before,” Poe continues. “It’s coming at a very weird time, especially since we just took on the Owens series and we’re working to secure the rights to those weird vampire young adult manuscripts.”

“Is there any way we could possibly counteroffer?” Ben suggests. He notices the smirk slowly forming across Poe’s face. He already knows the answer, but he had to ask anyway. Luke is going to hate to lose Poe like this.

“It’s with one of the largest publishers in New York. It’s a once in a lifetime deal, you know? Like I would be kicking myself if I didn’t take it.”

Ben nods his head thoughtfully. “When do you plan to tell Luke?”

Poe shifts uncomfortably in the seat. “Well, I’ll tell him soon but what I wanted to talk to you about is Rey.”

“What about Rey?” Ben asks curtly. Poe lifts his eyebrows and holds his hands back up.

“Whoa, whoa, I know she’s your best friend. That’s why I wanted to ask your opinion on whether or not you think she would come with me to New York.”

Ben swallows as he looks at Poe for a long moment. If he thought Rey moving in with Poe was a shock, this is absolutely earth shattering. The idea that Rey could leave with Poe is unimaginable.

“Oh, uh, wow…” Ben trails off as he blows out a breath. “Poe, man, I don’t know.”

“I know we’ve been dating for a little over six months. I totally get that it’s really quick and it’s asking a lot from her, and I would never pressure her or anything but…” Poe leans forward, and when Ben sees how much hope is within the other man’s eyes, he knows this battle has already been lost.

“I think I’m going to ask her to see if she would like to come with me. Even if it’s not immediately. Let me get there, get a place and all that. It would be great to have her up there with me, you know.”

Ben does know. He knows a little too well.

“I think you have a lot to think about here,” Ben says carefully as he clears his throat and straightens in his seat. “This is a big job opportunity, you’ll be moving to New York, there’s a lot of groundwork to cover once you get there. It’s a lot, man.”

“Yeah, yeah it is,” Poe agrees. “Rey is just a great girl. She is so funny and caring.”

Ben doesn’t want to hear another man list the reasons why he loves her. “Where would Rey find another job? She’s going to be up for tenure soon at the university. She’d have to start all over again.”

“There are plenty of academic opportunities in the Big Apple; there just have to be!” Poe’s leg bounces a little more frantically, causing Ben to wonder if he’s struck a nerve. Ben’s not trying to be selfish; Rey would have to look at what options she would have in continuing her work in academia. It could be difficult and risky for her to follow Poe to New York City.

But he knows he is a selfish bastard. He just can’t stand the thought of Rey leaving him.

_Such a selfish, selfish bastard._

“It’s just something to think about. Not just for her sake, but for yours, too. Lots of risk involved.” Ben pauses as he sees Poe’s features slump in his seat. He regrets how he’s inserted his own egotism into this conversation. It’s a dick move against Poe, who hasn’t wronged Ben aside from dating the woman he loves. 

And Rey is his friend. It’s almost a mantra that is on repeat in his head at his point.

“Look, Poe,” Ben sighs. “I think this sounds like a great opportunity for you, and we’d definitely miss you here at Skywalker. And if you want Rey to join you on this new adventure then…just ask her.”

“You think she’d say yes?”

“I don’t know,” Ben answers honestly. “But if you really want her there with you, then you should ask. It could work out.”

Poe perks up as he sits up in the chair. “Yeah, I think I will ask her. I was thinking about asking her to move in with me…just now I’m going to ask her to move in with me in a completely new city.” Ben works his jaw as Poe smiles brightly. 

“I’ll keep your secret safe from Luke and Rey, obviously,” Ben offers. “But he has to know soon. We’re sure going to hate to lose you here.”

Poe nods his head. “I really do appreciate every opportunity I’ve been given here. Really, man. It’s a great place here, and I’ll really miss the people here.” He moves to stand and holds out his hand. “Thanks, Ben. You’re a good guy, and I appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”

Ben fakes a small smile as he shakes his hand in return. He feels like he is anything but a decent guy right now.

“Yeah, man, no problem. Just keep me posted, alright?” Ben lifts his chin as Poe begins to head to the door. As he opens the door, Poe turns to look back at Ben.

“I think she may say yes,” Poe says quietly.

“I’m sorry, what?” 

“Rey. I think she may say yes when I ask her to come with me to New York.” Poe raises a fist in the air in jubilation as he gently slaps the door with his other hand. Ben doesn’t have a chance to respond before Poe has left him to his thoughts.

Ben sighs loudly as he leans back into his chair with his hands over his face. He thought his biggest problem was the idea of Rey moving in with Poe. Now there’s a chance that she will leave him behind forever with Poe.

“God, I’m so fucked,” he mumbles to himself. When he puts his hands back on his desk, he looks at the stacks of papers and the unfinished edited manuscript. That’s when he gets up and grabs his jacket. He needs some air to clear his thoughts. The last thing he wants to do right now is go back to editing a story about a couple of teenagers and unrequited love.

It’ll stop him from picking up the phone and begging Rey to stay before she’s ever been asked to leave him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ben really needs to get his shit together!
> 
> \--
> 
> Special love and thank you to [Sophia_Ravencrest](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sophia_Ravencrest/pseuds/Sophia_Ravencrest), who is an amazing beta and cheerleader!
> 
> I'm also over at [twitter](https://twitter.com/bellestarreylo). Come say hi to me!


	3. Why Dates Don't Work Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Sunday morning breakfast time, and Rey is upset.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all very, very much for the response to this story! I'm really enjoying writing this.

He notices from the moment she sits down at their booth that something is wrong.

Rey is always cheerful, especially for their Sunday breakfast. She sometimes strolls in looking like she just rolled out of bed -- if her hair is in three buns, it’s a dead giveaway. But she is always wearing a smile that Ben secretly wishes is just for him. Today, she’s dressed in her normal attire of jeans and a plain long sleeve tee, but the smile is nowhere to be found. Her lips are in a deep frown, her face scrunched up like she’s trying to hide something.

She’s doing a terrible job at it.

“Hey,” Ben says softly when she slides into the booth and doesn’t look up at him. He reaches across the table. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Rey squares her shoulders back as she lifts her head to look up at him. She gives her head a little shake to move some of the fallen strands of hair from her face and keeps a tight frown. “Uh, hey. Good morning.”

“It doesn’t look or sound like a good morning.” Ben can see tears welling in her eyes. It makes him wish that he could take her into his arms and hold her. When she finally places her hands in front of her, his fingers curl around hers.

This isn’t the first time that their hands have touched. 

Rey loves Halloween, and she always manages to drag Ben out to a haunted house attraction. He hates the holiday, but he goes with her because he knows how much she loves to buy into the thrill of the scare. She always takes his hand so that he can lead. Her hand squeezes his tightly, and he always hates when the attraction is over because it means she’ll let go.

There have been stressful times, like when his father was sick in the hospital. Rey came by at 2am to check on Ben, who tried to curl his massive frame into one of the uncomfortable lobby room chairs. He was delirious from stress and lack of sleep, and he was unable to pull away from Rey when she insisted that he try to get some sleep with his head in her lap. He had woken up a short time later with her arm draped across his middle and her hand wrapped tightly in his.

It feels different this time when their fingers intertwine, and he really notices just how much bigger his hand is from hers. It completely engulfs hers. Everyone compared to him is small, but Rey especially feels small when they hug one another or are close to each other. Despite their difference in size, Ben can’t help but feel how perfect she fits with him.

“I’m sorry,” she sniffles, pulling her hand back from his to wipe the corners of her eyes. “I just had a fight with Poe,” she admits.

He pulls back from her reluctantly. “Oh, I’m sorry about that,” he says softly. There’s a pang in his stomach as he wonders why they had a fight, and if it has anything to do with what Poe told him earlier in the week.

Before he can ask, a waiter stops by their table to take their order. Ben orders his usual and begins to order Rey’s chocolate chip pancakes when she shakes her head.

“Just a cold glass of milk is fine,” she tells the waiter. When he steps away, Ben leans forward on the table.

“This must have been some fight if you’re not chowing down on pancakes. I’ve never seen you turn down pancakes.” He tries to keep his tone light and teasing, but he frowns when she doesn’t give him any reassurance that he’s helping.

“It wasn’t a pretty fight,” she sighs as she leans back into the booth. Rey pulls on the sleeves of her tee and begins to pick at the hem to keep her gaze from Ben’s.

“Did he tell you about New York?” she asks. Ben nods silently, but she doesn’t look up to see his answer. Rey continues to stare down at her hands as she picks at the ends of her sleeves.

“He asked me to move up there with him,” she says as she pulls in her bottom lip with her teeth. Ben’s notices that she does this thing with her lip when she’s really upset and deep in thought. He can’t believe how much he has catalogued about Rey and her mannerisms in the time that they have been friends.

Being in love makes you do crazy things.

“Are you considering it?” Ben asks as he holds his breath. He nearly blows it out in relief as soon as he sees her head shake from side to side.

“I don’t know, Ben.” Rey finally looks up at him, her hazel eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “It’s…a big change.”

“Yeah, it is,” he agrees quietly. Part of him is screaming to tell her not to leave with Poe. The coward in him is telling him to tread carefully. To be safe. Just like he’s always played it when it comes to Rey.

“But we got into a fight about it because he thinks I’m not sure about us. And truthfully, I don’t know what exactly to think about us,” she adds.

“You told me a couple of weeks ago that you were thinking about moving in with him. Did something change?”

“Well, moving in together here is different from completely uprooting my life here and going to a new state and a new city,” Rey explains as she tucks more fallen pieces of hair behind her ear. Ben sometimes wishes he could untie the buns from her hair and run his fingers through it. He thinks Rey would look beautiful in a potato sack, but nothing takes his breath away like when she wears her hair down and it curls around her face.

“I would be leaving behind the university, where I love to work. I have made some great connections and friends on campus. Plus, I’m close to tenure in the engineering department. We know how hard I’ve been working toward that goal.” Rey pauses when their waiter brings out Ben’s breakfast order and her glass of milk.

“I also have great friends here. Like I couldn’t imagine meeting friends like Hux or Rose. And that even includes my colleagues like Kaydel.” Rey takes a sip of milk from the glass and watches as Ben begins to unravel the silverware from his napkin.

“Which, by the way, what happened with Kaydel?” she asks.

Ben drops the fork on the table with a loud clank at the mention of Kaydel. She’s the last person that Rey tried to set him up with about a month ago. Kaydel works alongside Rey at the university. She’s a perfectly cute girl and she laughed at a lot of his lame jokes. The dinner date they had wasn’t terrible but at the end of the night, he couldn’t bring himself to ask her out again. She’s not Rey; no one compares to Rey.

“Oh, um,” he stammers as he picks up the fork and pretends to be deciding on which slice of bacon to eat. “Kaydel is nice. I thought we had a nice time.”

Rey reaches over and grabs a slice of bacon from his plate. It’s already in her mouth before he can snatch it back. He looks at her disapprovingly, but Rey ignores it.

“Yeah, but you didn’t call or text her to ask her back out,” Rey points out as she chews on the bacon slice.

Ben shrugs as he seasons his scrambled eggs with pepper and begins to eat his breakfast before Rey can help herself to it. “I don’t know. It just didn’t feel right.”

“No one I ever set you up with ever feels right,” Rey smirks as she reaches back over to his plate. Her eyes gleam with mischief as Ben pulls his plate closer to him.

“I see your appetite is back. Order your pancakes.”

“But I like what’s on your plate,” Rey answers as she leans further over on the table. Her fingers stretch out to grab another slice of bacon from the plate as Ben shifts in the booth to pull back. Somehow their position has him leaning close to her face.

Dangerously close. He can smell a hint of mint from her toothpaste and the familiar aroma of the honeysuckle shampoo that he knows that she uses. Their faces have been close like this before, like when they were dancing at Hux and Rose’s wedding last year. She insisted they dance to every slow song together and she rested her cheek against his neck. The air around them is too thick for this to be a friendly back and forth over a breakfast food item.

Ben lets Rey grab another slice from his plate, and regrets the loss of closeness when she pulls away to sit back into the booth. She tugs at the slice of bacon with her teeth, giving him a grin.

“Okay, back to this fight with Poe,” he says to change the subject.

“Nu-huh, I want to know why you don’t seem to go past the first date with anyone I set you up with."

Ben freezes, dropping the fork down onto his plate. He tries to hide the look of fear from his face with a sip of coffee. He doesn’t want to explain to her why, despite how much his heart screams at him to just say it.

“Rey, we were talking about why you didn’t want to move to New York with Poe.”

“I know, but I want to know why you thought Kaydel wasn’t a match for you.” She takes a long drink of milk, and when she pulls the glass back from her lips to reveal a little milk mustache, Ben wants to lean over and wipe it away.

“We…we just didn’t have that spark.” Ben says simply. Rey rolls her eyes a little, giving him a little bit of a look with raised eyebrows.

“You say that all the time! I don’t get it, Ben.”

He sighs, really hating that this is where the conversation is heading.

“Why don’t we focus back on you,” he suggests. “What caused the fight between you and Poe?”

Rey sighs and shakes her head. “Fine. But really, Ben, I’ve set you up on how many dates now?”

 _Six_ , he thinks silently, _and none of them came close to you._

“What caused the fight is that I don’t know if I want to completely give up what I have here. My job, my colleagues, my friends…I’ve made a great home for myself here.” Ben notes how she drops her head and looks down at her hands on the tabletop. “All my life, I’ve wanted a family, and I feel like I have that here. It’d be so hard to leave everyone here. I don’t think he quite understood that.”

Ben pushes his unfinished breakfast plate to the side. Family is a sensitive topic for Rey. She had opened up that part of her life to him a few months into their friendship when he invited her over to his parents’ house for dinner. She had originally declined the invitation but changed her mind at the last minute.

His parents, Leia and Han, were excited by the idea that Ben invited Rey. Leia fussed in the kitchen about making sure dinner was absolutely perfect for meeting his girlfriend for the first time. Ben had to remind them that Rey was not his girlfriend. That didn’t stop Han from making a joke or two about it at the dinner table. Rey took it all in stride.

Following dinner, Ben excused himself for some fresh air on the back porch. Rey had offered to help Leia clean up the dishes, but he’s sure that his mother insisted that she’d join him outside instead. It gave them the opportunity to be alone while swinging gently on the porch swing. That’s when Rey broke down in tears about how wonderful it was to have dinner with his parents. She never experienced love like that on display, and she hated thinking how she missed the feeling of love and family as a child.

That night was the first time that Ben said ‘I love you’ to her in his head. He wishes he could say the words out loud.

“I’m sorry, Rey,” he says. “I know that had to be tough to talk about that with Poe.”

“It was. And he said that maybe moving to New York for him could mean we could find a new family together. It was really stupid of him to say that.” 

“Yeah, that was really stupid,” Ben agrees. “Poe sometimes doesn’t think before he speaks.”

“Yeah, so…” she looks up at him and sighs. “It was a big fight. I’m sure he’s probably left me like 100 text messages to apologize by now.”

Ben’s curiosity gets the best of him. “If you hadn’t gotten into this fight, what would you say to moving to New York?”

Rey shrugs. “I don’t know. If I had to make a decision right now, I would say no.”

His heart flutters, and he chides himself for it.

“But I’m also just really pissed at Poe, so I can’t make a decision right now anyway.”

And just like that, Ben’s heart drops to his stomach. It’s not a straightforward no, which means that could be yes. If he weren’t such a coward, he would tell Rey right now that she can’t go to New York with Poe. If she’s afraid of losing her family, she should stay here with him. He can be her family. He wants to be that for her.

“I’m sure you’ll make the best decision for yourself,” Ben says quietly. “I’m sorry that Poe is an idiot.” Rey gives him a little smile.

“Thanks,” she replies. “See, this is what I mean.”

“Hmm?”

“I don’t get how you’re still single.” Ben nearly chokes on his coffee.

“No, really, Ben.” Rey holds his gaze. “You’re a good listener and easy to talk to. You’re funny and really smart. You’re just a great person. I don’t know what happened with Kaydel, or Bazine, or Gwen—”

“Gwen was a bad match from the start, and you know that. I’m pretty sure you did that to make me uncomfortable,” Ben grunts as he shakes his head. 

Rey giggles a little as her hand reaches for his breakfast plate. “Are you not going to finish your breakfast?”

“No, be my guest,” he motions to the plate, and Rey is already unrolling her silverware to help herself to the rest of his hashbrowns and eggs.

“See? You also share your food. What more could a girl want?” She gives him a smile before she starts eating the rest of his breakfast. 

Ben muses over her question about why he is still single. Rey has no idea that she is the reason for all the things that she thinks are great about him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BEN. COME ON. SERIOUSLY. JUST SAY SOMETHING ALREADY!
> 
> \--
> 
> Special love and thank you to [Sophia_Ravencrest](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sophia_Ravencrest/pseuds/Sophia_Ravencrest), who is an amazing beta and cheerleader!
> 
> I'm also over at [twitter](https://twitter.com/bellestarreylo). Come say hi to me!


	4. "Just Tell Her"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We finally get some of what Rey has been thinking lately as we wait for Ben to do something already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all very, very much for the response to this story! I'm a bit overwhelmed (in a good way!) to the response to this. I'm really enjoying writing this story. 
> 
> You may notice the chapter count is currently at 6...but as my beta will tell you, all stories start off at five - haha!

It’s the night of Poe’s goodbye dinner, and all Rey can do is stare at a couple of pictures that he’s not even in.

The first photo is from Hux and Rose’s wedding last year. Rey was Rose’s Maid of Honor, and Ben was Hux’s Best Man. Toward the end of evening, the four of them danced to the Cha Cha Slide. Both Ben and Hux had ditched their jackets, ties and suspenders by that point. Rose’s heels were nowhere to be found, and her perfectly neat up-do had fallen in a mess around her face. Rey’s hair was really no better, but she managed to keep the strappy heels on so she wouldn’t trip over the bridesmaid dress.

All four of them are looking away from the camera, wide grins on their faces as their arms and legs flail about in their drunken interpretations of the dance. Ben is beside Rey, and they’re both looking at each other with their mouths wide open from laughter.

It’s not the only photo from the wedding that is her favorite.

The second photo, in a frame that Rose gifted her for being in her wedding, is a photo of Ben and Rey just before the ceremony began. Rey snuck out of the bridal suite to meet up with Ben to make sure they both had their sets of rings to carry down the aisle, and to give Hux a letter from Rose. Ben was ready to do the same exchange, until Rey spotted that his tie was crooked. Unbeknownst to them, the wedding photographer snapped a photo of Rey looking determined as she straightened Ben’s tie as he looked down at her with a small smile on his face. 

Rose had gifted her the frame with the inscription “I Couldn’t Say ‘I DO’ Without You!” and explained later that while the frame was meant to hold a photo of her and Rey, she thought this photo of her and Ben was more fitting.

Rey picks up the frame and runs her fingers over the glass. It’s not the only framed photo she has of her and Ben, but if there was a photo that best illustrated their friendship, it was certainly this one.

The night that she walked up to him outside the frat party, Rey had expected for Ben to ask her out. She had been sneaking glances at him when he stepped outside on the lawn and noticed how he couldn’t keep his eyes off her. Imagine her surprise when he clarified it was a “friendly” breakfast date instead.

She was disappointed, but after that first Sunday breakfast, Rey couldn’t imagine a life without Ben. Dating Ben could potentially ruin what has become one of the most important relationships of Rey’s life.

Ben has been there for her in times of celebration, like when Rey was named Young Engineer of the Year in her university department. She had been greeted with one of the biggest bouquets of flowers she’s ever received when she came into her office the day after the announcement. Ben had written her one of the best notes ever in his most beautiful calligraphy telling her how proud he was of her. She keeps the note taped to the mirror in the bathroom so she can read it over and over.

He’s been there for her in times of sorrow. The holidays aren’t easy for her; they remind her of the biological family that she never knew and what she missed as she bounced from foster family to foster family. Ben always makes sure she never feels left out, and fills the emptiness in her heart by including her in his family dinners and by making sure she makes new traditions with her “chosen” family.

As much as Rey has wondered what life would be like if she and Ben were more than just friends, she feels that maybe playing it safe for the sake of their friendship is for the best. Ben certainly has played it safe, especially with all the opportunities to kiss her lips, but choosing to kiss her cheek instead.

Rose has teased her excessively about why she doesn’t just ask Ben out already. Hux has even mentioned that Ben is too chicken shit to admit his feelings for her. Rey has shrugged them off every time they bring it up. Maybe it’s true that he won’t open up to her about his feelings, but it hasn’t stopped him from going out on the dates that Rey has set him up on.

It started when Ben set her up on a first date with a guy named Randy. That was the first time that Rey thought that maybe Rose and Hux had no idea what they were talking about. If Ben had feelings for Rey, why would he set her up on dates? She took it as a hint. Even though the date with Randy was a complete flop, it encouraged Rey to try and do the same with Ben when she first set him up with a girl named Jannah.

It seemed like they both took turns in setting each other up on bad dates. It definitely made some of their Sunday breakfast meetings more interesting as they recounted date details. A couple of the guys that Ben introduced to Rey had turned into more than just a date. One of the guys, Matt, had turned into a three month long relationship that ended in heartbreak when he cheated on her. Ben had spent nearly every night at her apartment that week with unlimited ice cream, tissues and bad movies.

Her relationship with Poe is the longest relationship she has had in three years. She’s sure Ben set it up for her to sit beside Poe that night when Ben introduced her to him. 

Poe is a great guy. He’s a little reckless, but she likes his daring spirit. He tells lame jokes, but she appreciates how he is always trying to make her laugh. Rey wasn’t surprised when Poe told her about the new job opportunity in New York; Poe is always looking to spread his wings and fly. She just hadn’t expected him to ask her to join him there.

Rey hasn’t given him an answer, even after making up with him after their big fight two weeks ago. He’s been giving her the space that she’s needed to think about what moving to New York would mean to her. Moving away would mean that Rey would be giving up a lot. But she would be lying if she didn’t think it was also exciting to think about moving the city that never sleeps. If she doesn’t go, then she knows her relationship with Poe will be done with. She doesn’t feel confident that their relationship could survive long-distance for very long. It hurts to think that she could lose Poe.

She puts the frame back on her vanity and begins to get ready for dinner. Hux has made arrangements for a celebratory dinner for Poe at one of their favorite restaurants tonight. It’s actually where she met Poe for the first time. She smiles a little at the memory as she puts on a little bit of makeup and curls her hair. 

Rey remembers how Poe had told her hilarious stories of some of the novels he had edited at the previous publishing company he was at. After drinks, he walked her to the car and asked for her number. It had been a while since a guy had done that, and Rey had to admit that he wooed her that night.

When she finishes getting ready and smooths over the wrinkles of her dress, Rey takes a good look at herself in the vanity mirror. Tonight is going to be one of the last times that the whole gang will be together. Poe has worked hard for this opportunity in New York, and while she’s not made a decision regarding whether she stays or she goes, Rey wants to support him no matter what.

But she can’t help but let her gaze linger over the photo of just her and Ben just before she gets up to head out the door.

**

“Solo, you really are kind of pathetic.”

Hux glares at Ben as they sit together at the bar before Poe’s goodbye dinner. Ben shakes his head as he looks down at the whiskey tumbler in front of him. Ben has told Hux that he has spent the last two weeks worried that Rey is going to move to New York with Poe. She’s not mentioned it since that Sunday breakfast, but he knows they’ve at least made up after their fight.

“I know I am, Hux,” Ben sighs, unable to look his friend in the eye.

“And you know tonight is about how Poe is leaving for New York next week, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. We already had a goodbye party for him at work today.” Ben drains the rest of his glass and puts his face in his hands. He hasn’t been able to stop thinking about the idea of Rey leaving. It’s been tearing him apart. 

“Has Rey said to you that she’s going to leave with Poe?” Hux asks as he puts a hand on Ben’s shoulder so that he can turn to face him. 

“No, she hasn’t,” Ben admits. “Maybe I’m overthinking this.”

Hux laughs loudly as he slams his glass down on the bar. “Oh my God,” he says sardonically. “Ben Solo? Overthinking something with Rey Johnson? Perish the thought!”

Ben shushes Hux as he glances around the bar area. Rose, Poe and Rey are nowhere in sight, but that doesn’t mean he wants Hux to broadcast his feelings on the topic.

“Look, man, I know that you have loved her ever since that night I ditched you at the college frat party, but you’ve got to do something here.” Hux’s tone turns more serious as he looks into his friend’s crestfallen face. “For your information, Rose hasn’t said whether or not Rey is planning to move there with him, so maybe it’s not yet too late.” Hux tips back his glass to finish his scotch.

“But Solo, you can’t just keep sitting back like this.” Hux slaps Ben’s back gently. “You need to tell her how you feel.”

Ben turns away slightly to blow out a frustrated breath. “It’s scary. I know what I have to do, but I don’t know if I have the strength to do it.”

“You don’t think I was scared shitless when I asked Rose out? Or when I asked her to marry me?” Hux shakes his head. “Nothing worth having is easy.”

“I just…I just don’t want to lose her, you know?” Ben straightens in the bar stool, turning to face Hux completely. “She’s a wonderful person, and if we start dating, and it doesn’t work out, then I wouldn’t have her in my life anymore.”

“But haven’t you thought about how much better life would be if you did start dating? How you could wake up beside her every morning?” 

Hux has a point. Waking up beside Rey is something that Ben has fantasized about for a long time.

There have been many times that Ben has imagined taking Rey home after one of their nights out. He’s thought about how he would finally get his hands into her hair and pull her lips to his. Rey looks like she has soft, sweet lips that are made to be kissed. He knows once he begins to kiss her that he’ll never be able to stop.

She’s so small compared to him, but he already knows that her body fits against his perfectly. He knows that because of the times they’ve sat on the couch to watch a movie or when they danced the night away at Hux and Rose’s wedding.

Rose’s shrill voice breaks him of his thoughts as she comes up behind Hux and plants a kiss to his cheek.

“Hello boys!” she says excitedly. “Are you guys ready to head back to the banquet room while we wait for the guest of honor?”

“Yeah, honey, we’ll be right there,” Hux smiles as he leans back and kisses his wife. Ben gives Rose a tiny wave with his hand in a greeting before she takes off toward the back of the restaurant.

Hux turns and gives Ben a look as he pulls out some bills to pay for their drinks. “I’m telling you, Solo, it’s now or never. You can either continue to sit on the sidelines, or you can get into the game.”

“I don’t exactly want to break up their relationship,” Ben starts to protest before Hux lifts a hand to silence him.

“Solo,” Hux says slowly. “You are going to lose her if you don’t get off your ass.” He slaps the bar with the palm of his hand. “Tell her. Please.”

“Tell who what?”

Ben freezes when he hears Rey walk up behind them. Hux lifts his eyebrows at Solo before waving to her.

“Oh, hey there, Rey,” Hux says a little too loudly. “I’m just going to check in on Rose before the guest of honor arrives.” Before Ben can say anything, Hux is already walking away, leaving him to face Rey alone. 

Rey gives Ben a warm smile, causing his heart to flutter. He takes in a deep breath as he slides off the bar stool. Hux is right; it’s now or never. 

“Rey? Can we talk?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I KNOW. DON'T KILL ME. DON'T THROW THINGS AT ME. DON'T KILL ME FOR THE CLIFFHANGER.
> 
> But hey, Ben's finally going to do it! (Maybe this isn't the best time or place but....)
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and for the support! It means the world to me!  
> \---
> 
> Special love and thank you to [Sophia_Ravencrest](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sophia_Ravencrest/pseuds/Sophia_Ravencrest), who is an amazing beta and cheerleader!
> 
> I'm also over at [twitter](https://twitter.com/bellestarreylo). Come say hi to me!


	5. Finally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally! (But with consequences)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all very, very much for the response to this story! I'm a bit overwhelmed (in a good way!) to the response to this. Everyone in the Reylo community is so kind and welcoming, and it's really special.
> 
> You may notice the chapter count went up. Because of course it did.

Rey follows Ben outside to a small outdoor seating area in front of the restaurant. The air is warm and breezy as the sun begins to set over the city. Dusk paints vibrant hues of pink and orange light behind Rey like a halo as he turns to look at her.

Now that he’s finally said those dreaded words – “Can we talk?” – Ben now has to actually have the conversation with her that he’s been saying in his head for years. He has to say the words out loud.

He’s so nervous that he can’t breathe.

Ben stuffs his sweaty hands into his suit pants, having never changed from work. He takes a moment to admire Rey in a dark green, sleeveless sundress that reminds him a little of the dress she wore the night they met. It’s hard to believe that night was over three years ago, when he had enough guts to ask her out to breakfast. But still too much of a coward to make it a date.

He could change all of that with a few simple words. 

The touch of her hand on his arm causes him to look down at the ground sheepishly. He hears a small laugh beside him.

“Ben?” she says his name so sweetly. They stop to stand several feet away from the entrance of the restaurant. They are the only ones in the outdoor seating section despite it being the perfect early summer evening. He keeps his hands in his pockets and rocks gently against his heels.

“Rey.” He lifts his head up to see she is standing in front of him, her hand remaining on his arm as her fingers gently trail down. She’s waiting patiently with a small smile on her face. For a moment, he doesn’t think he deserves her.

“Hey, what’s going on? Are you okay?” she asks softly. He sees a shimmer of concern within her hazel eyes and he forces himself to keep his gaze on her.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” he says quickly. Ben searches deep to find the words that he’s recited over and over to her. His brain short circuits, his mouth feels taped shut and his voice is silenced.

_How hard can it be to say: “I love you. Please don’t leave. I want you to be with me.”_

“Rey! Ben!” Poe calls out to them, and the moment is broken before it’s even started. Rey waves to Poe as he starts to make his way toward them.

“What’s going on out here? Is this where the party is?” Poe laughs as he leans in and gives Rey a quick kiss on the lips. Ben turns to the side to avoid watching the moment between Rey and Poe as he bites his tongue. He really does have the worst timing.

“We were just going to talk before heading in,” Rey explains as she reaches back out to Ben and runs her hand reassuringly over his arm, causing him to turn back to face her and Poe. Ben shrugs.

“It can wait, we can go in,” Ben manages to say, not recognizing his own voice as he looks between Rey and Poe.

“I’ll just see you guys in there, no rush!” Poe is his normal, jovial self. He has no idea what he’s just interrupted as he walks away from them. Ben begins to feel like a real asshole.

What has Poe done to him, anyway? Poe isn’t the reason that Ben is in this mess; that he’s standing in front of his best friend, the one who he has been in love with for nearly three years. Ben is the one who quietly suggested to Rey to sit beside Poe and get to know him all those months ago. Of course Poe would ask her out and of course Rey would agree to a date because…

Because she doesn’t know. And yet, he just can’t—”

“Ben? Come on, tell me what’s wrong.”

Ben takes in a long, deep breath as Rey waits for his answer. For a moment, he wonders if the universe wants to throw him another curveball of an interruption. Maybe Poe will walk back out and ask them for their drink order so it’s waiting for them once they finally get to the table.

“You know you can tell me anything, right?” 

He ducks his head down for a moment, pretending to be more interested in the shine of his leather shoes before he feels Rey reach and tip his chin up so he has to look at her. The touch is electrifying.

“Ben,” she implores gently. “It’s me. You can tell me anything.”

He nods his head. “Have you decided if you’re going to New York with Poe?”

“That’s what this is about?” she asks. “Oh, Ben, I’ve not made up my mind yet.”

“Um, well, I don’t think you should. Go. You shouldn’t go,” he stammers out. Rey drops her hand from his chin and narrows her eyes.

“Wait, why not?” Her tone is full of curiosity. 

“Because Rey,” he pauses as he takes in another deep breath, “because I don’t know what I will do if you leave me.”

Her face falls as she reaches once more to push away some of his hair that’s fallen across his forehead. “Ben,” she breathes out. “I would miss you so, so much if I left.”

He realizes that they’re still on two different roads. “No, Rey, I don’t think you should go to New York at all,” he tries to clarify, and it comes out in one hurried breath where the words are jumbled but still somehow clear.

“Don’t go to New York to be with Poe because I want you to be with me.”

Rey pulls back like she has been slapped, her eyes wide as her mouth falls open. “Wha…what? You want me—”

“I want to be with you, and for you to be with me.“ Ben squeezes his eyes shut, his heart pounding wildly in his ears that he’s thankful are covered by the soft curls of his hair. He can feel the tips of his ears burn from the confession. “Rey, you have no idea,” he takes a breath and forces himself to open his eyes to look into hers, “how much I want to be with you. How much I have wanted you for so long.”

A range of emotions wash over her face at once as her hands fly to cover her mouth. She takes a couple of steps back from him as she processes the beginning of what Ben wants to say to her. He can tell she’s as overwhelmed by this as he is, but now that this has started, the words start to come out. Like he should have been saying them all along.

“I was a fool that night when we met,” he begins. “When I asked you out for breakfast, I should have never said it was a friendly breakfast. It should have been a date.”

She laughs a little when she pulls her hands down from her face. Encouraged, he takes a step toward her.

“Because Rey, when you walked out of the diner that morning, the last thing I wanted was to be your friend.” Her eyes bore into his as he takes yet another step forward. Her back is against the brick of the restaurant, shadows from the sun setting dancing across her face. It’s becoming easier to share his feelings as he watches her listen intently.

“And it’s been so hard for me because I’ve wanted to be more than that, but I didn’t want to lose you, either. I know the timing is really shitty and I know you’re with Poe, but I just needed you to know that…” Ben trails off, his Adam’s apple bobbing with emotion.

“I just need you to know that I love you. I have loved you for the past three years and I am so sorry to have waited so long to tell you. You are the most amazing person in my life, and the thought of you leaving to go to New York to be with someone else is tearing me apart.”

There are several moments of silence as the admission hangs between them. Rey opens and closes her mouth several times, her nose scrunches up as she runs a hand through her hair. What he had hoped would feel like a weight lifted from his shoulders from finally telling her these things feels much heavier than before. 

“Rey? Please…. please say something,” he urges.

She wipes at her eyes as tears begin to form. Her hands are trembling as she looks back at him with lips parted in surprise. “Ben, I—”

“Hey!”

The universe is playing the worst kind of jokes tonight. Rose stands several feet away, motioning for Ben and Rey to come inside. “Are you guys coming in to join us?”

“Just a minute!” Rey calls back as Ben steps away from her. Once Rose is back inside the restaurant, Ben opens his mouth to speak. Rey holds up a hand to silence him.

“I can’t do this with you right now. We are supposed to be at my boyfriend’s goodbye dinner celebrating his new job.” Rey’s voice is shaky with emotion. “We need to go in there and act like this conversation never happened.”

Ben feels his heart breaking as he tugs on his lower lip with his teeth. “Rey, please—”

“Ben, stop!” She raises her voice, keeping her hand up as she moves away from the exterior of the building and begins to walk backwards away from him. “I...I need time. We can talk about this later, okay?”

He nods his head mutely as her shoulders slump and her face breaks. Rey’s bottom lip quivers as a sob gathers in her throat.

“Why couldn’t you have told me this sooner?” she says in a voice barely above a whisper. “If you love me so much, why did you set me up on those dates? Or set me up with Poe? Because you did do that, didn’t you?”

“Because I’m an idiot, Rey,” he replies faintly. The pieces of the puzzle are solved and form the complete picture. Rey’s expression tells him everything he already knows.

“Yeah, you really are an idiot,” she agrees before turning around and walking into the restaurant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: So, on a scale of 1-10, how frustrated are you by this cliffhanger?  
> Sophia, my wonderful beta: 11!
> 
> This is going to be last awful cliffhanger and I promise it has a happy ending!  
> \---
> 
> Special love and thank you to [Sophia_Ravencrest](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sophia_Ravencrest/pseuds/Sophia_Ravencrest), who is an amazing beta and cheerleader! Even though she's currently frustrated by the cliffhanger.
> 
> I'm also over at [twitter](https://twitter.com/bellestarreylo). Come say hi to me!


	6. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey deals with the aftermath of Ben's confession and has a decision to make.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all very, very much for the response to this story! We're almost to the end...

Rey can barely focus at dinner. She can hardly hold a conversation with her friends, and she can’t bring herself to look at the reason why her world has stopped turning.

Poe is highly animated tonight, his arms sweeping outward when he explains how he’s already found the best places to eat around an apartment that he hasn’t even secured yet, but he just _knows_. He knows it’ll be a small place to live, but it’ll be temporary before he can find something a little more spacious. Poe has already looked at his travel commute, which bar is the closest to his work and how he’ll have to avoid the tourists that come to the city. Poe slaps his hand excitedly on the table when he professes that he just knows everything is working out for the best.

The man beside her has figured out everything. Poe speaks with such a conviction that Rey wallows in how unsure she is about everything in her own life. She thought she was sure about most things in her life, until about two hours ago.

Before Ben begged her to stay before she’d even had a chance to leave. Before he told her that he loved her.

Not even Poe has told her that. No one she has ever been with has ever told her they love her before.

If Rose, Hux and Poe have noticed how quiet Ben has been the entire time, none of them have said anything. She’s been quiet, too. Rey has managed to smile over at Poe a few times and chuckle at his attempts at jokes. But the more he talks about New York, and the more she hears Rose or Hux ask questions about his plans, the less Rey feels clear about where she fits in with Poe.

As Hux begins to tell a story about the one time that he and Poe had to call for help when they got trapped in an elevator, Rey steals a glance at Ben, who sits across from her. His eyes remain on the dessert that Rose insisted he have (“But you never turn down chocolate cake!”), and he absentmindedly plays with the fabric napkin tossed on the table. His wavy locks fall gently across his face, and she can’t help but watch how he continues to tuck his bottom lip between his teeth. 

Rey knows that look; the last time she saw it was when he came over late one night after one of the last dates she’d set him up on, and he told her that maybe dating wasn’t for him. Ben had slumped into her couch, looking down at his hands as he mused that maybe he was always meant to be alone. He couldn’t find the spark he was looking for that would set the world he knew on fire.

Rey remembers how she had scooted herself to sit beside him, their knees touching as she leaned over to grab his clasped hands into hers. His breath had hitched at the touch, and Rey thought how incredible it was that he had no idea how happy he could make someone. 

“You’re not alone,” she told him, and her heart soared when he had lifted his head up and gave her a small smile.

“Neither are you,” he had replied.

She realizes now why none of the dates she’d set him up never worked out.

 _God, we’re both idiots_ , she thinks.

“What do you think, Rey?” Poe nudges her with his elbow and pulls her back into the present where she is sitting at her boyfriend’s goodbye dinner before he takes off for New York and all she has done is think about the man sitting across from her.

But Ben isn’t just anyone. He is her best friend. Ben is the person she calls when she wants to talk through a problem at work. He always knows when she’s had a bad day and makes sure that she knows that he would do whatever she needed to feel better (and often comes over anyway, armed with her favorite ice cream or bottle of wine.)

Their Sunday morning breakfast talks are oftentimes the highlight of her week. Whenever she slides into their booth, and he gives her a toothy smile that she swears is just for her since she never sees him show it to anyone else, it feels like coming home.

Home feels so far away from her, even though he sits just across from her. They’re so close, but it feels like they are galaxies apart.

“Oh, um, sorry, Poe, what did you ask me?” Embarrassment sweeps across her cheeks as he chuckles. Rey can feel Hux and Rose’s eyes on her as she tries to straighten in her chair and pay attention to what’s going on around her.

“I was just saying how great it will be for you to eventually join me up there.” Poe grins brightly, but it feels like a cloud that covers Rey in darkness. The silence that hangs over the table suffocates her as her eyes dart between Poe and to their friends.

That’s when she sees that Ben has finally looked up, his eyes glistening and his face looking haunted. 

“Oh, uh…” Rey swallows and forces herself to look at Poe.

“I didn’t think Rey had made a decision, right?” Rose asks. Maybe she didn’t mean to cut into the conversation. Maybe Rose is throwing out a life preserver for Rey to cling to as she navigates the stormy waters that she has been tossed into. It’s true, before coming into dinner tonight, Rey hadn’t made any sort of decision about moving to New York to be with Poe.

Now there’s another decision to make.

“I’m so sorry everyone, I do have to be going.” Ben announces unexpectedly and pushes himself away from the table. Terror causes Rey to freeze where she sits. She can see the looks of confusion on her friends’ faces as Ben leans over and offers his hand to Poe.

“It’s been great working with you, man. I wish you the best.” Ben and Poe shake hands, and Rey looks between the two.

“Ben, thanks, I’m gonna miss you, buddy! Come over here and gimme a hug!” Poe motions for him to come around the table, and Rey watches as Ben awkwardly makes his way over. When Poe pulls him in, Ben is able to look at her over his shoulder. His eyes never leave hers as Poe slaps Ben’s back.

“You really are the man, Ben,” Poe gushes when he pulls back and turns him around to face the table. “He’s been the best mentor to me over at Skywalker Publishing, he’s introduced me to you guys and…” Poe motions to Rey. “He introduced me to the best girl.” Poe gives him another appreciative slap on the back, and Rey can see that Ben is working his jaw.

“Uh, yeah, don’t mention it,” Ben grits out. He waves at everyone before ducking his head as he walks away from the table. Rey looks over to the empty seat, the chocolate cake slice left behind untouched on the plate.

“What was up with Ben tonight?” Rose asks as she looks over her shoulder and then leans forward to Rey. “You guys were talking beforehand. Everything okay?”

“Yep!” Rey squeaks out. “Yeah, yeah, everything is just great!” 

As Poe takes his seat beside her once again and proposes another round of drinks, Rey turns her head in the direction of where Ben walked out of the restaurant.

She knows what she has to do.

**

Rey walks up the driveway, her heels clicking against the pavement as she keeps her eyes ahead on the front door of his townhouse. She holds a small box containing the forgotten piece of chocolate cake in her hands. She had waited until after dinner to have the talk. Poe was more understanding than she thought he would be. He even encouraged her to come out here in the first place.

As she knocks on the door, Rey takes in a deep breath and waits for an answer. This is about to be one of the most difficult conversations that she has ever had. But in order for her to move forward, Rey has to have a conversation with Ben. She still feels incredibly raw after Ben’s confession, but he’s not the only one keeping secrets for the last three years.

When he answers the door, Ben’s eyes widen as the sight of her, his mouth agape.

“Rey? What are you doing here?”

“You forgot your chocolate cake at the restaurant,” Rey holds out the container with her eyebrows raised. “The Ben Solo I know doesn’t leave a chocolate cake slice behind.”

He takes the container from her and moves away from the door. “Do you want to come in?”

“Yeah, thanks.” Rey moves past him and hears him close the door behind her. The tension between them feels uncomfortable as she stands in the middle of the living room. Her eyes quickly scan the room, seeing evidence that he’s been curled up on the couch as she spies the bottle of whiskey and tumbler on the coffee table.

“Ben,” she says softly as she turns her gaze to him. “We need to talk.”

He nods his head. “Yeah, I guess we do.”

“Why did you leave the dinner like that?” She notices how his eyebrows raise at the question as he walks past her to drop off the cake slice into the kitchen.

“I felt like it was just time for me to go,” he answers as he comes back into view with his hands on his hips.

“That’s bullshit,” her voice bristles.

“It’s not bullshit,” he throws back.

“Yes, it is. You know what else is bullshit? That you dropped that on me just before dinner tonight.” 

Ben narrows his eyes as he comes closer to her. “Look, I know that it’s not great timing—”

Rey puts a hand up to his chest as she gathers the courage to look up at him. “Can I just say something?”

He makes a motion with his hands. “If you are here to tell me that you’re going leave with Poe—”

“I’m not leaving to go to New York to be with Poe,” she blurts out. “I’m not going anywhere. But I want you to know that I think you springing this on me is bullshit, and I can’t believe this, Ben.” 

He looks at her completely wounded as he runs his hands through his hair. “Rey, I’m so sorry—”

“And do you know why I think it’s bullshit?” she asks. Rey repeats what she did earlier when they stood outside the restaurant when she tips his chin up to force him to look at her. She feels like she could drown in his eyes as she sees the emotion well up in them.

“I think it’s bullshit that you waited this long to tell me,” she says as her voice breaks. “It’s bullshit that you set me up on all those dates when you have been in love with me and you didn’t tell me.”

“Rey...”

“But you know what else is bullshit about this whole situation? I…. I’m just as guilty, Ben.” Rey takes a deep breath. “Because I shouldn’t have been doing that to you either.”

He looks at her incredulously. “Rey…”

“I love you, Ben,” she whispers. “I have loved you since I walked out of Hal’s after our first breakfast together. I just thought that you didn’t want to ruin anything, and I didn’t want to either. I couldn’t stand the thought of you not being in my life, so I stupidly set you up on those dates.” Rey reaches over and takes a hand into hers. “I could never go to New York because my home is here. You are my home, Ben, and I... I can’t and won’t leave you.” 

She sees his eyes light up, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he smiles a little. His reaction, and finally saying the words out loud, flood her with relief.

“You…you love me?”

“I…I do.” Rey returns the smile and feels her heart flutter. “I love you, Ben.” 

The toothy smile, the one she only sees at Sunday breakfast, spreads across his face.

“Um…so, what about Poe?” he asks as he takes a step forward.

“We have broken up,” Rey answers. “We aren’t on the same page about the things that we want.”

Ben nods his head slowly. “And what do you want?”

Rey’s lips curl into a smirk as she reaches up to cup the side of his face with her hand. “You. Just you.” She surges up on her tip toes and finally does what she has waited to do for over three years. What she should have done any number of times throughout their relationship.

Rey kisses him soundly, and when he wraps his arms around her to pull her closer, she wonders why it took them so long to finally get here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *looks at the story rating*  
> Oh, yeah, that next chapter is definitely going to be smutty.
> 
> \--
> 
> Special love and thank you to [Sophia_Ravencrest](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sophia_Ravencrest/pseuds/Sophia_Ravencrest), who is an amazing beta and cheerleader!


	7. Things Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey finally get to show how much they love one another....in bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all very, very much for the response to this story! I haven't responded to a [@Reylo Prompts](https://twitter.com/reylo_prompts) idea, but I am SO glad I did!

He doesn’t remember how they got to his bedroom. Maybe it started with her tugging on the hem of his sweater and mumbling over his lips that she needed him naked. _Now_.

“Not as much as I need you,” he had moaned when he felt her fingers run down his chest after she’d freed him of the sweater. She was still wearing too many clothes; her dress needed to join the jeans he’d shucked from his hips. He was so glad that she knew this apartment like her own when she began to walk him backwards to the bedroom. Their hands and mouths grabbed and tugged and kissed like their bodies were famished.

The dress got left behind in the hallway. Her heels flew off her feet; he had to catch her when her height adjusted a couple of inches away from him.

And now, Rey Johnson, his best friend of three years, is in nothing but her bra and underwear, and she is lying on the bed with a look on her face that he never thought he would ever see. He’s heard words tonight that he’s only heard in dreams, and she is a vision that he has only imagined.

The bedside lamp provides enough light for him to see that her lips are swollen from his kisses and her cheeks are flushed. Her hair falls across her shoulders. Propped up on her elbows, she pulls her legs up onto the bed as he stands in front of her in just his solid black briefs.

She’s truly the most beautiful sight; he never thought he would see her like this in his bed.

“Ben?” she says his name so sweetly that it makes his heart skip a beat. “You okay?”

He can only nod his head. As quickly as her kissing him led to them shedding their clothes from the living room to his bedroom, Ben doesn’t want to rush this. He knows too much time has already been wasted. But her telling him tonight that she loves him, and the realization that they both have been so stupid for denying themselves this for so long, feels like a gift. The wrapping paper has been ripped apart, and now he wants to savor having what he’s wanted for so long.

Ben cards a hand through his hair before he begins to crawl into the bed over her. Rey slides further up on the bed so her head lands on a pillow. The smile on her face is warm. He’s reminded of how she smiled at him at their first Sunday breakfast.

He knows he should have told her then. So many opportunities to make this real between them. Fear is what has held him back from the greatest love of all.

Ben Solo isn’t going to let fear hold him back from loving her the way she deserves to be loved. He’s waited three years for this, and he’s going to continue to take his time.

Their lips meet again, and just before Rey’s tongue demands entrance to his mouth, he pulls back slightly to look into her eyes. There is a mixture of concern and the unmistakable heat of desire within her hazel eyes.

“Ben?” she says quietly. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” he whispers. “I know we both have been waiting for this but, please...” He leans down as he shifts above her so that his weight doesn’t crush her.

His exploration of all things physical about Rey is beginning with a kiss to her forehead. He’s kissed her there many times, but Ben has never had a chance to memorize how her brows raise just slightly when his lips brush there.

“Please give me a little more time to show you how much I love you.” Ben hears Rey’s breath hitch; whether it’s from how he gingerly kisses her closed eyes and over to her nose, or what he has said to her, he’s not sure. Salty tears glide down her cheek and he kisses them away as quickly as they drop.

While his mouth kisses and explores the edge of her jaw and down the column of her throat, his hands begin to work to unclasp the black bra that is keeping him from traveling to her breasts. Rey, thankfully, arches just slightly off the mattress so he can work the clasps and slip her bra from her skin.

The gasp comes out before he can stop it when his eyes land on her two perfectly round tits. Her nipples pebble from the chill in the room as his hands quickly move to shield them. She makes a small squeak when his thumbs graze her nipples. Goosebumps form over her arms and he feels her shudder under him.

“You’re so beautiful, Rey,” he tells her as his body begins to dip further down so he can begin to kiss and run his tongue over the valley between her tits. Rey reacts by running her hands through his locks, her fingers twisting through generous amounts of it. When her nails meet his scalp, he gently begins to suck one of her tits into his mouth while his hand massages the other.

“Ben…” she sighs before her back arches just a bit more from the bed as his teeth gently tug at the taut nipple. He shifts to give the other breast the same attention, and she twists her hands further into his mane.

“You have no idea how much I have imagined these perfect little tits like this.” He looks up at her with hooded eyes as he continues to lick, kiss and suck. Her moans become a little louder and he feels her hips buck slightly at his ministrations. Ben knows she can feel how incredibly hard he is through his briefs as he lays between her legs. As badly as he wants to bury himself in her, Ben has made her a promise to show her how much she means to him.

That’s a promise he doesn’t intend to ever break.

His hands move down her stomach, his head following close behind them. Her skin is incredibly soft and smooth as his lips press kisses over her ribs. Rey releases her grip on his hair slightly, and he feels a bit of a push to head further down. He chuckles against her stomach.

“Patience has never been a virtue for you,” he grins when he looks up at her. The smirk on her face is so enticing that he almost surges up to kiss her.

But he’s more interested in something else.

“Ben….please,” she gasps when his fingers begin to walk along the waistband of her underwear. He can already tell by the dampness he feels when his hand runs along the cotton material that she is more than ready for him.

A promise is a promise.

"I know, sweetheart, I know.”

He tugs her underwear down her hips as she lifts herself slightly to assist him. Once they are tossed to the side of the bed, Ben finally gets to drink her in. Her body is slender but toned from the running she does around the university track. He can faintly make out tan lines where her skin has browned golden in the sunshine from wearing dresses and tank tops. For as many freckles that dot her face, there’s so many more to map out across her arms, chest and thighs.

She’s so fucking gorgeous, he can’t believe that he can finally call her his.

She is his. He is hers.

He doesn’t recognize the growl from his throat as he dips down and begins to kiss across her hips, his hand working to spread her legs so he can situate himself between them. Lifting her legs over his shoulders, Ben looks up to see Rey’s mouth agape.

“Look at you,” he whispers, astonished, as he runs his fingers over her. She twitches at the touch of his fingers as they run along the seam of slickness between her legs. “Rey, you’re so wet.”

“For you,” she breaths as his finger grazes her clit. Feeling encouraged, Ben leans in and swipes his tongue over her cunt. The taste of her is unlike anything he has ever tasted before in his life. Like a man dying of thirst, his mouth moves to drink her in.

Rey’s hips jerk upward to meet his mouth as his tongue slips in between the wet folds of her cunt. He moves a hand up to her stomach to gently hold her still while he kisses and licks her generously.

She cries out his name as her hand runs over his hair once more. Her grip on his hair tighter as he presses his nose against her clit before he gently sucks and nips at the swollen, sensitive bud.

“You taste better than anything I’ve ever had,” he sighs into her skin before moving his other hand to slip two deft fingers into her entrance. “I can’t believe I can finally do this to you. To make you feel good.”

Rey squeals at the contact, her back arching higher off the bed. He has to press further down on her stomach to keep her still. He loves how he is making her feel.

“I want to make you feel so good, Rey,” he tells her as his fingers pump in and out of her wet folds and his tongue laps at her clit. “I want you to forget every guy I ever stupidly set you up with.”

“What other guys? Ah, Ben! _Fuck_!” she swears when his fingers curl inside her, and her crying out makes his cock feel impossibly harder. “There is no one else like you and no one else I want but you.”

Her words fuel him to bring her over the edge as his fingers work harder and his lips suck in her clit. He can hear her moaning his name as her fingers twist his hair. The walls of her cunt tighten around his fingers, and when she begins to pant, he knows she must be close.

Ben wants this to be the first of the many, many times he wants her to come. He wants to be the only person who does this to her for the rest of his life. His mouth sucks on her clit one final time before his thumb begins to rub circles where his lips were. The new pressure he applies there makes Rey nearly scream for him.

“Can you come for me?” he rasps as she begins to the grip the sheet in her hands. Her hips rock against his hand, looking for more friction as his fingers speed up their movements. “Rey, I need you to come for me. Let me feel you and taste you, sweetheart.” 

With a loud mewl, her back arches higher and she clenches around his fingers. Her head is thrown back against the pillow, her body trembling as her orgasm washes over her like a wave. Ben pulls his fingers from her cunt slowly before burying his head again between her legs.

Rey is mumbling incoherently above him as he licks and kisses her slowly. Rey truly tastes sweeter than anything he’s ever had in his life. He could stay just like this in bed with her legs draped over his shoulders and back with her hands running through his hair.

“Jesus Christ, _Ben_ ,” she whimpers when he pulls back and places her legs back down on the mattress. He notices the sheen of sweat on her forehead when he crawls back up to claim her lips with his. Her tongue meets his greedily as she wraps her arms around his neck. The way she holds him in her grip, he can feel her pressing her tits against his chest and her legs move to wrap around his waist. 

“Wait a second,” he whispers as he works to pull his briefs off to free his cock. It springs out with a sense of relief and rests between her thighs. His body is alive with the feel of her bare skin against his. Her hand moves between them, and when Rey grips his girth, Ben’s eyes roll back in his head. She’s going to be the death of him, but he can’t think of a better way to go than this.

“Oh fuck,” he whispers as she slowly begins to pump him with her hand. He can feel her little puffs of breath against his lips as she begins to guide him where she wants him.

“Wait, I need—”

“You don’t need a condom,” she says in a hurried breath. “I’m on birth control. I’m clean.”

“But you also have been—” Rey doesn’t let him finish the sentence. He’s glad, in a way. Poe’s name is the last thing he wants to bring up right now.

“We always used condoms,” she tells him as she kisses the tip of his nose. “Please, Ben. I need you inside me. I want to feel you, too.”

He could never deny Rey anything she wants.

Ben takes himself into his hand as he shifts above her. Her chest is already heaving from anticipation as the tip of his cock begins to slowly slip between her folds. The heat and wetness that he feels when he slowly enters her nearly causes him to see stars. Rey is so tight that he can hardly believe how he is fitting.

“Oh my God, Ben!” She gasps loudly in his ear as her hands grip his shoulders. He grunts out her name when he bottoms out, feeling completely consumed by the feel of her.

“Rey, you….you feel incredible. So, _so good_. Like you were made just for me,” he whispers before chasing her mouth with his. They kiss slowly, languidly for a few moments before she lifts her hips against him. The pressure he feels inside her is delicious as he slowly begins to move and find his pace. Together, they begin to move as one as his hands search for hers. Their hands clasp together by her head in a tight grip.

“I love you,” he tells her as he presses kisses over her cheeks. “I love you so much, Rey. I can’t believe I can finally be with you.”

“I love you, too,” she whispers as she turns her head to allow him better access to her skin. She whimpers and moans as the pace quickens. “Can’t believe it took us so long.”

“Biggest mistake of my life was telling you that breakfast was friendly,” he manages to say when her legs wrap around his waist. The friction between them is hot and tight; Ben never wants to leave if it means feeling this way.

“So, is breakfast tomorrow a date?” she giggles. He laughs softly before giving her a quick kiss on the lips.

“It’s a three year overdue date.”

She squeezes his hands tight as her hips roll against his. “We have three years of making up to do.”

“I don’t intend to waste another minute,” he promises her. Their slow lovemaking movements turn into fucking and Rey cries out.

“Yes, yes, yes, Ben!” Her lips hover over his ear, and he swears he feels her tongue swiping along the shell of it. He hates his ears, but if Rey keeps doing that, he may grow to love them. “You feel so, so good, baby.”

Her words rain over him as he works to make her come again. She felt incredible against his hand and his mouth, but he needs her to come on his cock. Ben needs her more than ever as he thrusts faster into her. He pulls backs a hand to slip it between them, finding her engorged clit to rub. The movement pulls out a scream of pleasure from Rey. It sounds like music to his ears.

She’s chanting his name over and over as he works to bring her over the edge. He feels her walls clench around his cock impossibly tighter. He begins to whisper to her all of the things that he’s been waiting to say to her over the last three years. About how beautiful she is. How she is the most incredible person, and how he will spend the rest of his life making up for all the time he’s missed with her.

Rey comes hard around him and with a shout of his name. Her nails dig into his skin, not caring if she’s leaving bruises in her wake. A few long, deep thrusts follow before he spills into her, his head nestled between her neck and shoulder as he shudders above her.

Feeling boneless and sated, Ben carefully shifts his weight to roll to his side, pulling Rey with him as their legs remain tangled. Her arms wrap around him as she nuzzles her nose against his chest, and he rests his chin on the crown of her head.

Their bodies tremble as they work to catch their breath. Fingers and palms fan out against flushed skin and lips press gentle kisses wherever they land. Ben only pulls back to look at Rey when he hears soft sniffles. Her eyes shimmer with tears.

“I’m so glad it’s you,” she confesses. “I’m so happy that you love me the way I love you.”

“I’m only sorry that I didn’t say it sooner,” he tells her as he pushes her hair from her face. Rey tilts her head up to meet his lips in a slow, loving kiss before she settles her face on his chest.

“I love you, Ben,” she smiles against his chest.

“I love you, Rey,” he says as he kisses the top of her head.

Before he drifts off to sleep, Ben holds on to Rey a little tighter, feeling thankful that tomorrow morning, when he opens his eyes, she’ll be right there beside him.

And if he has anything to do with it, they won’t make it to Sunday breakfast on time.

**

They don’t make it to Sunday morning breakfast at 8am the next day. It’s closer to noon before they arrive together hand-in-hand.

Ben orders the breakfast special of scrambled eggs, sausage (that Rey still steals after his plate arrives), loaded hashbrowns and a cup of coffee. Rey orders the chocolate chip pancakes with extra whipped cream and a large glass of milk.

Because some things about their relationship should never change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey only deserve the best. <3
> 
> \--
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this story! It has been a joy to write, and I cannot thank everyone enough for their sweet comments, kudos, RTs and sharing this.
> 
> Special love and thank you to [Sophia_Ravencrest](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sophia_Ravencrest/pseuds/Sophia_Ravencrest), who is an amazing beta and cheerleader!


End file.
